
Derek Nicholas and James Andrew - photo by David Khinda
I like to surround myself with a diverse group of creative friends—artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, etc., all pursuing their dreams and passions.
Derek Nicholas is one such friend. He’s the lead guitarist for the group, Last Stand for Lucy, with Michael O’Neil as lead singer. Their NYC hardcore/British pop vibe won them the 2010 M.E.A.N.Y. fest and their latest song, Burn Everything, is getting a great deal of airplay on the radio and internet.
Their star is definitely on the rise now, but things were not always so smooth going: Nicholas and O’Neil—who happen to be childhood friends—had to adapt to new and more difficult circumstances when O’Neal’s military service was extended in Iraq via the military’s stop-loss policy. This did not deter either of them however, and they continued to work on their musical collaborations via email, sending clips and songs to fine tune the music they were creating together. Having this fantastic dream of reuniting and being able to play their music together kept both motivated and moving forward. As fate would have it, O’Neil was wounded in a 2006 IED attack—he received the Purple Heart—ending his tour, and bringing him home.

Derek Nicholas - photo by David Khinda
What a spectacular and inspiring story of friendship and the courageous pursuit of one’s dreams!
Check out Last Stand for Lucy on iTunes.
For an impromptu music session, I’m wearing a bottle green leather bomber jacket ,purple cashmere turtleneck sweater and sunglasses all by Gucci, Paul Smith black watch plaid wool pant, purple alligator belt with sterling buckle by Ralph Lauren, white and black silk scarf by Turnbull and Asser, high top sneakers by Lanvin and my fragrance is Creed Bois du Portugal.
Photos are by David Khinda.
hey james, i’d like to see what you would create if you went to the nike store at 21 Mercer st. in soho and created your own bespoke nike Air Force One. they have premium materials like Kevlar to crocodile to high class leather to create your own shoe. if you haven’t already created your own bespoke Air Force One, i’d really like to see what your wonderful aesthetic mind would design.
much love to you!
really great post today James on a wonderful story!
Really great story and I love the tones!
I checked out the band… very cool!
Awesome story! Very cool feature, James.
Interesting and Diversified !
Clay,
SO happy to hear you enjoyed this story!
Derek is a fantastic friend and I was thrilled to share his brilliance with my readers.
Cheers
JA
Great post James, I have always thought fashion and music were linked together. This is very inspiring.